Welcome!

Ikea Easel

Given the issue of our lopsided guest list, we wanted to ensure that guests would not seek out a "side" on which to sit when they arrived at our wedding.  Having ushers seat people randomly seemed like it would require too much explanation and put stress on our groomsmen.  So, we figured we'd put it in black-and-chalk.  I found a cute sign which someone had posted to Pinterest and I decided to make my own.  It read "As two families become one, please choose a seat, not a side."  To the point, but with some whimsy.  It had the added bonus that it didn't scream "RICH'S FAMILY IS REALLY SMALL AND KATE'S IS HUUUUUGE".  The question remained of what form said sign should take.  I knew I wanted to use chalkboards in the reception and figured it couldn't hurt to use them as part of our outdoor ceremony as well.  Thanks to some internet searching and a helpful bridesmaid, I found a great (and by great, I mean cheap) easel online at Ikea.  $15 and a 90 minute round trip car ride later, I had my easel.  Two of them actually, though I'll get to that in a minute.  Then, I went to the hardware store and, swatch in hand (TIP:  Carry your swatch in your wallet.  Regardless of changing your purse to match your outfit, you always have it on hand), found the perfect shade of green paint to match the bridesmaid dresses.  

Painted and taped

I tossed down a drop cloth in our living room, taped off the chalk board on one side and dry-erase board on the other and got to work.  Two coats of green paint later, I was done...almost.  The bottom tray - which would normally hold chalk, erasers, etc - was red plastic and did not look conducive to painting.  So, I measured the dimensions and sewed a quick burlap liner for it.  The last remaining question was what to do with the white dry-erase side.  I thought about painting it with chalkboard paint but refrained for two reasons.  First, I wanted these easels to be of good use after the wedding and second, what would I do with another chalkboard side anyway?  I thought about covering it in fabric but thought that would look distracting.  So, I decided to keep it simple.  I added one red dry-erase marker to our box of supplies.  The final touches came the day of the wedding when that same helpful bridesmaid wrote the phrase on the chalkboard side, drew a red heart with our initials (the initials were her idea!) on the dry-erase board side, placed the burlap liner in the tray and topped it with a small pot of flowers I picked up at Home Depot the day before for $.89.  It was perfect.

Our second easel, similarly decorated and adorned, was placed by the entrance to the tent where the reception would be held.  Inscribed on that was another phrase found on Pinterest which read "Come as you are, Stay as long as you can, We're all family, So no seating plan.  Again, concise and explanatory, yet welcoming and sweet.  We knew some of our friends and relatives would be confused by a lack of assigned seats and wanted it to be clear that our design was intentional.  And people loved it - they sat, ate and met new people.  And thanks to a row of high-top cafe tables at the front of the tent facing the lake, some people never sat at all.  It was exactly what we wanted and our signage definitely helped.

Welcome Easel In Action

Note:  And I'm pleased to say our easels did indeed go to good use after our wedding.  My helpful bridesmaid took one home where her adorable children are drawing on it and eating the chalk like champs!  Another good friend took the second chalkboard and donated it to her daughter's classroom.  The green perfectly matches the curtains in the classroom and the teacher uses it every day to write a welcome message to the class.  And I got to help a five-year-old make a good first impression to her kindergarten class.  You can't beat that!

Rowan Fox and His Artwork